Mr. Booker’s amazing book about Didsbury

Now if you want to immerse yourself in the history of Didsbury from the earliest times, you can’t do worse than read Mr. Booker’s amazing book about Didsbury, which was published in 1852 and was part of a series of books on the chapels and townships around Manchester. *

The Chapel in 1620

And it is more than just the story of the church, pulling on documentation which describes the evolution of the township from the 11th century, through to the mid-19th century.

What I particularly like is the level of detail, which allows you to explore the numbers of baptisms, burials and marriages in the chapel from 1561 to 1855.

So, for those who want to know, in that first year there were 28 baptisms, and 18 burials, while at the close of 1855, the records record 51 baptisms, 71 burials and 65 marriages.

Baptisms in the chapel, 1838-47

And that is a fantastic amount of detail which offers up the chance to follow the changes in population during three hundred years, filling out the more meagre census returns.

Added to this there is a wealth of information about some of the people who lived in Didsbury, including wills, charities, and the names of people baptized, married and buried in the chapel.

I am the first to admit that these snapshots of people are drawn from the wealthy, but this was 1852 and the idea that history should be about “common people” was an idea yet to have its day.

Mr. Booker's amazing book, 1852

That said there is a lot to read, starting with the opening paragraph,

“The township of Didsbury is situated about five miles and a half south of Manchester and three miles west of Stockport.

It is bounded on the north by Withington; on the south by the river Mersey, which there divides the counties of Lancaster and Chester, on the east by Burnage and Heaton Mersey …and on the west by Chorlton-cum-Hardy and the Mersey.

It is the most southerly township in the parish of Manchester. Its area has been computed by Messrs. Johnson at 1616 acres; the Tithe Commissioners in the Census Returns of 1851 estimate it at 1527 acres; the Ordinance Survey of, 1552a; and Rickman in the Census Return of 1831; 1560 acres.  

It lies on the north bank of the river, at a point where the stream is sufficiently shallow to admit of passengers crossing from Didsbury to Northenden; the river and the lands adjacent to the ford receiving the anciently the name of Didisford- an appellation still to be traced after the lapse of nearly six hundred years in Ford Bank”

Location; Didsbury

Pictures, from A History of the Ancient Chapels of Did bury and Chorlton in Manchester Parish, the Rev. John Booker, 1852       

*A History of the Ancient Chapels of Did bury and Chorlton in Manchester Parish, 1852